Environmentalists in the US have a habit of mounting loud, vigorous but ultimately futile campaigns against thirsty oil companies looking for land to exploit. So the US fashion designer Tom Ford is taking no chances.

Ford, who established his reputation with Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent before setting up his own label, has bought the mineral rights beneath his ranch in New Mexico, scene of a growing battle between the oil industry and environmentalists. Land records show he paid the state $84,000 for the rights on more than 1,400 acres of his own land, effectively meaning that he has now bought the land twice.

The reason for the anomaly is that although individuals own the surface land of their property, homesteading laws designed in the 19th century created split ownership in the West. Much of the property was given away for free but the state retained the mineral rights and is now able to sell the leases to energy companies.

At stake in this instance is the Galisteo Basin, an area near Santa Fe surrounded by mountains and which is a historic route linking the Rio Grande and the Great Plains. A Houston-based company, Tecton Energy, has bought the mineral rights to about 65,000 acres to explore for oil. The company said it could be pumping oil there for the next 30 to 50 years.